DREAM THEATER

with The Dixie Dregs & The Star People @ The Electric Factory February 25, 2000

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

I had been really wanting to see Dream Theater live for the first time ever since they became my favorite band a year or two ago, but my anticipation really got high after they released their new concept album Scenes From A Memory on October 26, 1999, and I learned that they would play the whole album in its' entirety in concert.  In mid-January, after what seemed like forever waiting for the first leg US tour dates on mikeportnoy.com, I finally learned that they'd be playing February 25th at the Electric Factory in Philly, a venue I had never previously been to before. I got to the venue with my dad and brother Andrew a little after 7 pm, and we had gotten there close enough to the time the doors opened that the wait wasn't that bad. In line, we figured there was no way we were gonna get good seats, but we actually ended up 6 or 7 rows back on the right side of the stage while my dad sat in the bleachers a bit farther back (he didn't want to stand for 3 hours). Go figure.   

THE STAR PEOPLE

The Star People took the stage at around 8 (a half hour before the show was scheduled to start on our tickets), and I have to say they were out there.  They pretended like they were from another galaxy, and they were fronted by what seemed to be a demented lounge singer. I think the only thing that everyone in the crowd got into was this girl in a red dress who happened to be quite an impressive violin player.  Despite being a little too corny, their songs were actually pretty good, and they definitely left an impression on me with the last one - the hook to it is still wedged in my head as I type this. 

THE DIXIE DREGS

Next The Dixie Dregs came on stage close to 9, and from where I was standing, I had a fairly good view of their guitarist, Steve Morse.  This was when my brother, who was happy to find out that their drummer was Rod Morgenstein since he really likes Winger, started to take pictures.  I had never heard any of their songs before, only being sort of familiar with the last song they played, "Cruise Control", because Dream Theater had covered that song in a 10 minute live medley on A Change Of Seasons.  Their performance started out great but kind of died down because their material was all instrumental, and a lot of it went on way too long, starting to sound the same after awhile.  The actual musicianship was incredible, though, and I actually thought they gave Dream Theater a run for the money in that department - I just didn't think they had the songs.   

DREAM THEATER TAKES THE STAGE

Finally, a little after 10, the moment we had all been waiting for finally arrived - the clock ticking on the opening track to Scenes, "Regression" along with the Hypnotherapist speaking his part on a video screen they had set up for mainly the opening and closing bits to the album, with the crowd singing along shortly after John Petrucci could be seen playing the opening chords.  Then afterwards, when that song turned into the instrumental "Overture 1928", the place just exploded.  The energy and power from that point on became absolutely unreal, and the volume level reached a high point.

DREAM THEATER'S SET LIST

The set list was to my knowledge the same as most of the previous shows on the 'Metropolis 2000' tour:

At this point, the band was going to take a 15 minute intermission when "Mike wakes up", but they didn't, and continued playing.  The remaining songs were as follows:

Medley:

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES

Vocals: James Labrie was on fire in terms of stage presence and overall performance. My brother correctly pointed out that during the stuff on the Five Years In A Livetime home video (shot mostly during the Falling Into Infinity tour) he was just standing there, but on that night he was jumping around all over the place, leading the crowd on, with amazing enthusiasm. He sounded like he was absolutely thrilled to be playing in Philly.

Guitar: I had the best view of John Petrucci on the right side of the stage, and my brother probably got the best pics of him during the show... I'm convinced he is definitely not human... his fingers were flying all over the place, and he too sounded really into it. I also noticed his severe case of "guitar face" during the songs, it was really quite amusing.

Bass: I couldn't see John Myung very well, but at times I could REALLY feel the effect of his bass at times, and what I did notice his fingers were flying at lightning speed as well.

Keyboards: I had the worst view of Jordan Rudess to the point where I couldn't see his fingers at all, but that didn't matter, of course, because of his keyboard solo alone.  His playing was, like the rest of the band, unreal.  He's definitely the man.

Drums: And finally, Mike Portnoy is just an ANIMAL... he was beating the shit out of the kit... I can't say anything else that hasn't been said before, he was just unbelievable. I had a REALLY good view of his performance, and I'd say he takes a lot of the credit for the sheer volume of the show.

THE FINAL VERDICT

Overall, this was a stunning concert experience, maybe even better than I had expected.  The only minor drawbacks were that I didn't get to meet anyone from the mikeportnoy.com forum I visit and post to constantly, the element of surprise was lacking since I already knew everything they were going to be playing, and the volume did get a bit too excessive near the end (no, I'm not too old).  Other than that, though, the show was amazing enough for me to STRONGLY recommend seeing them live to anyone, even if you aren't so sure.  The ultimate compliment, however, came from my dad, who didn't even really want to go before the show started - he proclaimed them afterwards "one of the greatest rock bands ever".  I just laughed... was that a great ending to the night.

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